This is the question I continued to ask myself after watching last night’s State of the Union Address. After watching President Obama talk for a little over an hour, it was obvious that there was much discord in the room. Throughout the speech he seemed to be calling everyone out in hopes that they would attempt to work together for solutions to the country’s problems. After his speech was over there was the rebuttal from the Republican party. To me, the fact that there is someone ready to blow holes in what the President says before he even gets out of the room good speaks directly to my question. Was everything that he said true? Probably not. Will all of the things that he is pushing for happen? More than likely not. Is the chance lessened by the fact that everyone believes that they can do a better job than the person they are sitting next to at the table? You bet they are.

I don’t claim to be political by any stretch of the imagination. I try to stay current on thoughts an ideas because I believe it is a good idea to know where money is going and what my country is doing to keep us safe and educate our children and keep us moving forward for years to come. But I notice that every time I try to get a little deeper than that I’m turned away by the ugly underside of politics that shows its head in times like these. Something tells me that there has to be a way to wade through some of the egos to get to a working medium. If it weren’t for the fact that I’m sure that people are being paid to stand and clap, you would think that everyone had a great working relationship and was willing to take major steps toward fixing the problems in our country. But if that was really the case, I don’t think we’d be sitting here in the constant aftermath of problems that beset us.

After watching this whole thing, I thought about the church and how we relate to each other. I saw some nasty similarities. Unfortunately, lots of times there are people in the church who always feel like they can do a job better than the person doing it. There are factions and cliques that use harsh words in relation to the leadership and it creates instant division. At the same time, people spend time talking to the pastor or leaders and encouraging them to keep up the good work. It reminds me of the initial walk into the room for the President and his exit after he finished the speech. That may be the most superficial parade I’ve ever witnessed…except for right after church in the foyer. Eerily similar again…

Unity seems to be the one thing that everyone is asking for and no one is willing to really work toward. Maybe I’m speaking with cynical overgeneralizations, but that’s what I see. I see it in our country and I see it in the church. I don’t know if will ever happen in either place. But when it comes to the church, there’s one thing that always stands in the middle and if we continue to move toward that, we have a better chance to get this right. The cross, has been, is and always will be right where we need to be. If we aren’t moving toward it, then we will find unity a fleeting thought. So here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to keep praying for my country and I’m going to keep moving toward the cross. Who’s with me?

I love this statement that I found as I was researching this idea. It’s so funny I’m just going to put it down in here and let you read it before I go on.

The robber ran from the policeman, still holding the money in his hands.
After being whipped fiercely, the cook boiled the egg.
Flitting gaily from flower to flower, the football player watched the bee.

If you said the last sentence to the football player’s face just the way it’s phrased above, you could end up a bloody lump of pulp lying on the astroturf, because he might conclude you think he “flits gaily,” a thing most people in his profession don’t do, at least in public.

From The Writing Guide 2002

Anyway, dangling participles are all about placing action in the wrong place. You see what happens to a sentence when you place the verb in the wrong place, you could end up beaten by a football player. What happens when we direct our actions in the wrong place? People are always searching for that thing. The thing that will make us famous. That thing that will make us a lot of money and create security. We direct our actions towards the things that look, feel and smell good. These motivations more times than not will lead us somewhere we had not set out to go.

That’s why it’s so important have our actions pointed in the right direction. When we place or actions in things that please us first, we tend to lose focus and head the wrong way. “You may think you’re on the right road and still end up dead.” Proverbs 14:12 CEV Our sights should be set on the cross. When Christ is our motivation then things around us can go every which way, but we have a steady focus point. In Philippians 3, Paul writes that he was forgetting the things that had already happened and pressing toward that mark of Christ. When Christ is our motivation, there is no way that we can get misguided. Christ wants to draw us to himself. He wants to bring us in to a place where we can live in freedom with him. When our motivations begin to dangle in other places chaos is created.

What motivates you each day? What is it that gets you out of bed? Is it money or your career? Or is it Christ? You may want to check that out. Your motivation could be misguided.

One of my favorite games when I was younger was hide and go seek. I’ve played many different variations of this game and can’t find one that was bad. The craziest one had to be speed. That’s when the person that was it only counted to 7. So you had to get somewhere QUICK! I would have to say the favorite would be playing at my grandma’s house in Wellston. Times were a little different when I was younger, so my cousins and I would be blocks away from the house, and we’d be gone for hours because no one was actually going to go that far to look for you. We would eventually come home when we were hungry or had to go to the bathroom. We would also play at night, which obviously helped because it was already dark. This sometimes allowed us to stand in the middle of the street and not be seen. It didn’t work often, but when it did it was funny. This game was fun because it was all based on how well you could blend in to your surroundings and not be found out. Sometimes that meant hiding behind a tree. Sometimes that was hiding under a car. Sometimes it was running to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Skinker (that’s Wellston speak). The better the hiding place, the less likely you were to be found.

I don’t think that hiding is a good idea in all situations though. Sometimes standing boldly and stepping out from behind the barrier is needed and encouraged. Sometimes we have to be able to put ourselves out front and be found out. But what if we don’t want people to find out? What if we’re hiding because we’re not really proud of what people will see? What if they realize that we’ve been lying the whole time? What if there isn’t anything deeper than this? What if they realize that we don’t have the answers?

More and more today it seems to me (and you can agree or disagree) that the church is hiding behind the performance and the presentation. If we make it look good then people may or may not notice the substance. Let’s wow them with how cool our lights are or  how awesome our musicians are or how put together our worship service is. But when you start to dig deeper and look for truth and gospel then things become a little thin. I can’t speak for all the reasons why we have come to this point in our churches, but I have noticed the trend. I just wonder why sometimes we choose to hide behind the performance instead of standing firm on a truth that is unshakable. Why are we rejoicing in not being found out instead of boldly making known the mystery of the gospel (Ephesians 6:19)?

On a more personal level, what are you hiding behind? Sometimes it’s hard to stand firm in who you are when everyone around you seems to be doing something else. It’s hard to live a life that represents Christ when you know everyone around you thinks that Christianity is a joke or that Christians are just fake. I have the privilege of working in a church, so sometimes I have to go outside of my own office to find people like this. For me I believe it is something that keeps me from living in a bubble and believing that everything is okay. For me, sometimes I’m hiding behind my own desk.

Hiding is good when you’re playing the game. The better you are at hiding the better chance you have at not having to be the one to go and find people. Now that I think about it, that works in both scenarios…

Happy March everyone! Yes, I used a ridiculous pun just now. But I couldn’t really find any other link between the two major things I wanted to mention this morning. The first of them being how crazy it is that we’re already in March. It seems like I was just bringing in this year yesterday with friends and watching 2010 fade away. Now we’re starting the end of the first quarter of the year. This life moves so fast and sometimes I wonder what in the world I’m doing here. I was already wrestling with this thought last night and when I woke up this morning my friend had already written a similar post. I would implore you to go check it out. Here’s a link to Bry’s blog. But read it after this one .  However, I came to my conclusion as a result of something a little different.

So in the Christian author and theology world there is a huge controversy going on right now. Normally I don’t get into these big time theological debates. And I don’t really plan to get into this one, but I was intrigued by this and have paid a little more attention. Evidently Rob Bell, who is one of today’s most popular Christian figures with books, videos and sermons being accessed all over the globe, has made a splash with his upcoming book “Love Wins” where it sounds as if he has taken a rather awkward view of Christianity and God Himself. Since this news came out I have read many blog posts and other articles about this and they range from blasting his face off to at least giving him some benefit of doubt until the book comes out. Now based on this video, the stance that Rob has taken says that there is no way that a loving God could send anyone to hell. Now that sends people reeling in all kinds of directions, and I’m not trying to fight that battle right now. But I find something really interesting. The whole concept of this book is that love will reign supreme in the end. Now, I don’t know where you stand on this whole idea, but I do believe that love should reign in our lives. We have to love each other no matter what they believe. Differences will always occur, but we can’t let them drive us to where we treat people in horrible ways. This book hasn’t even come out yet and we have nailed Rob Bell to the wall. From the sounds of the video, it’s pretty safe to say that we know what to expect when we read it. But at the end of the day, until March 29th gets here the only people that know what are on the pages between that cover are Rob himself, publishers, editors and anyone he’s had to help him in this writing process. I don’t know any of those people, but I’m pretty sure that it isn’t ANY of the people that have blasted him on the Internet.

Now I say all of that to say that sometimes it’s REALLY easy to see why people tend to shy away from Christianity and everyone associated with it. If we blast someone this bad that is supposedly one of our own, what in the world does it look like to non believers? Are we displaying love? I think if nothing else Rob has proven yet again that we will like you if you agree with us. And if that’s the message we are sending out then it’s no wonder that people are already looking at a world that is post Christian and how that will affect the world that we live in. Now I plan on reading this book because I want to see what it is that he’s really saying. In the mean time I will, and you should, be praying for this man. Right or wrong he needs to be loved with the true love of Christ. In the same vein, there is someone around you in your neighborhood, on your job, at the store you frequent that doesn’t know the saving love of Christ. Pray for them. Love them. Love them to the foot of the cross. Happy March 1st.

I just want to start out by saying I don’t like this phrase. I was trying to think about why I don’t like it, and I think it’s because I can’t use it. I mean, I COULD use it. But in my own heart and mind, I can’t use that phrase. I was reading on the Internet this week when I ran across another celebrity divorce upcoming that used that as their reasoning for the break up. Now, I don’t have any real ties to that relationship so it doesn’t really matter to me in that sense. But I do wonder what it is in us today that allows us to so easy walk away from things when we don’t like them. That brought me to this idea…

Is this the mindset we operate from when it comes to church as well? What about worship music? The pastor? I see this very easily being something that people use without realizing it. Sometimes we will be involved in a situation and when it starts to not look like we want it to, we start to find ways to justify our disdain. One of my favorite people, Kevin Hughes always says that when someone comes to his church because it’s ‘perfect’ he already knows that they won’t be around long. Eventually that new church smell will wear off and they will begin to see all of the imperfections of the church and get disenchanted and leave. Whenever I hear about these things happening, I wonder if we ever get to a point that we look inward. At what point do we decide that the irreconcilable differences don’t come from the church, but they are within us? Are we not willing to reconcile the problems in our own hearts? Are we not willing to make the hard changes when we are forced to look at them? Are we not willing to say that we are getting older and even though it’s not bad, the new music is just something we need to get used to? Can we accept that the pastor isn’t perfect and sometimes he will say things that we don’t like? Do things that we don’t like? Not call me back as quick as I would like because he probably has other stuff going on as well?

I am from the school of thought (and I may be alone in this) that says that it’s not always the other person’s fault. Sometimes I have to look at myself no matter how hard that may be and no matter what I might find and know that I may have to make some changes. What are some of your ‘irreconcilable differences’ that you may need to take another look at?

So I have to apologize before I really get into this because a lot has happened since I wrote that title. First off, I will say that I have been really productive this week. I started this week getting up early which is something that I’ve wanted to do for awhile. It has allowed me to really get some things done. I’ve written my own chord charts for my singers and musicians for the upcoming concerts. I’ve had 4 rehearsals (not including the one I’m getting ready to attend), and I’ve been doing a lot of stuff in preparation.

Here’s what I haven’t done so far…I haven’t finished the song for my brother in law’s wedding and I haven’t written out the cello and viola parts for the people who will be playing with me. I need to do that. I also have yet to find a job. So my ‘productivity’ seems a little bit hindered in my own mind.

My wife’s new idea is that I do a piano CD of songs that I could record. That would take some money, but not as much as it would take for a full blown project. I have thought about doing something like this. I’ve also thought about getting some equipment to record somet things at home. I don’t know how I would pull it off, but I would love to have some stuff at home to work with.

All of this to say…I’m really feeling discouraged as of late. Earlier this week, my facebook status said something about me having a fragile heart that I continue to put out there knowing that it could be crushed at any moment. Right now I’m feeling totally crushed. I feel that even though I’m working hard on getting music ready for concerts and worship stuff that no one will care and that it will all fall flat. I’m TOTALLY scared that I’m not going to be effective and that I’m wasting time and money on something pointless. Sometimes I question why I’m a musician. I struggle with it even more when I see friends around me who are doing the things that I would love to do. It’s not really a jealousy issue, but I wonder if I missed my chance because I see so many other around me who have made the move. Anyway, like I said, I’m a little discouraged.

And now that I’ve TOTALLY negatively promoted myself, I have a concert that is a little more than a week away at TimberRidge Community Church. Please come out if you can. I’ll have more info up about it as the time comes.

I have decided today that the battle is not mine. What does that mean? I realize that God is prepping me for something big and I don’t know what it is. However, Satan surely knows what it is and has decided to see if he can wear me down with all these peripheral discussions, arguments and dilemmas. I have had the most random day and I thought I liked it, but I’m pretty sure that I don’t anymore. I know that my hopes of starting it over won’t be granted to me, so my only bet is that I can try to do better tomorrow.  But sometimes I wonder…

I wonder why these things happen? I wonder why without notice things can switch and what was a good relationship is now being questioned. I wonder why miscommunication happens even when there was nothing being communicated? I sometimes wonder how men handle the pressures of being men. Responsibility is ours and we know that. Sometimes we like that, especially when things work out right. However, the dark, ugly side of responsibility shows up sometimes when we really don’t want it to or maybe can’t deal with the emotional aspect of it.

I’m writing today as someone who knows the battle has come to his doorstep. I’m dealing with a lot of things, and I’m glad to be done with school so I can attempt to concentrate on all the things swirling around my head. Even with the extra time and minimal extracurricular items, life can still be pretty taxing. That’s what I’ve noticed today. These are times that, as my friend Danielle says, “I know God is teaching me something and I sort of feel like we’ve had this lesson already. I’d like to say ‘God, I understand this lesson…can we move on to another one?’” That is what is in my heart today. I don’t know if that helps anyone, but it helps me to write it out. Sometimes I wonder if anyone cares…